Ultimatum Tree

On the banks of the Tugela River, near Fort Pearson, stands a historic fig tree known as the Umdlebe Tree or the Ultimatum Tree. It was under this tree that the British secretary of native affairs, J W Shepstone, delivered a harsh ultimatum to Zulu delegates sent by King Cetshwayo in 1878. The ultimatum demanded that the Zulus surrender their land and weapons to the British or face war. The Zulus rejected the ultimatum, leading to the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879, which saw battles at Isandlwana, Rorke's Drift and Ulundi. The tree was a national heritage site and a tourist attraction until it was burned by vandals in 2004.